Marcelino Oreja, 1st Marquess of Oreja

Oreja was born on 13 February 1935 in Madrid, his father was Marcelino Oreja Elósegui.

In May 1973 he and a number of Madrid-based individuals founded the {{lang|es|Grupo Tácito}}, a group of intellectuals, politicians and journalists, some of them coming from the Franco regime and others from the democratic and monarchist opposition to the dictatorship. They - by the prospect of Franco's death - advocated a democratic solution to the dictatorial regime and had influence in different sectors linked to the system, and where active during the period of the Spanish Transition between 1973 and 1976. Oreja came up with the name after the Roman historian Tacitus, meaning that due to government censorship not everything could be said. The {{lang|es|Grupo Tácito}} had its origins in a meeting of the Asociación Católica Nacional de Propagandistas’ (Catholic National Association of Propagandists) and group’s early influence was largely determined by its access to the Catholic press.

Oreja served as Spanish minister of foreign affairs from 5 July 1976 to 1980. July 1976 Oreja set out to reform Spain's 1953 Concordat with the Vatican, which resulted the same month in agreements with the Holy See laying out the separation of church and state.https://www.ru.nl/publish/pages/816038/oreja-m-19april2017.pdf Marcelino Oreja Aguirre Bio, Université du Luxembourg CVCE.EU The Spanish chief of state no more had the right to nominate Roman Catholic bishops, in exchange the Vatican dropped its right of "ecclesiastical forum".[https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/29/archives/vatican-spain-sign-pact-affecting-naming-of-bishops.html Vatican, Spain Sign Pact Affecting Naming of Bishops] The New York Times, 29 July 1976. Two months later Oreja signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on behalf of Spain.

On 24 November 1977, in Strasbourg, Oreja signed Spain's accession to the Council of Europe,[https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/marcelino_oreja_and_georg_kahn_ackermann_at_the_signing_of_spain_s_agreement_on_accession_to_the_council_of_europe_strasbourg_24_november_1977-en-f574c9a0-5a0d-4f60-a2b8-946569f2d542.html Marcelino Oreja and Georg Kahn-Ackermann at the signing] with the European Convention on Human Rights entering into force in Spain on 4 October 1979.[https://www.coe.int/en/web/execution/spain Spain and the Council of Europe]{{cite web |title=Commission Member Biographies |work=Independent Commission on Turkey |year=2009 |url=http://www.independentcommissiononturkey.org/members-bios.html |access-date=2 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913101745/http://www.independentcommissiononturkey.org/members-bios.html |archive-date=13 September 2009 |publisher=British Council and the Open Society Foundation–Turkey}}

He was Secretary General of the Council of Europe from 1984 to 1989.

He was elected to the European Parliament in 1989. His membership ended on 28 June 1993.{{cite web |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/1150/MARCELINO_OREJA_home.html |title=Marcelino Oreja Aguirre |work=European Parliament |access-date=21 January 2015}}

In 1994 Oreja was appointed European Commissioner for Transport and Energy and then European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy.

At the end of his mandate, Oreja retired from political life, returning to Spain. He continued to be active in many fields, being appointed Head of the Institute for European Studies at the CEU San Pablo University Foundation, Vice-Chair of the BBV Foundation (1996) and Doctor Honoris Causa at Zaragoza and Seville Universities (1996).{{cite web |title=Biography of Marcelino Oreja Aguirre |work=CVCE.eu |date=10 September 2012 |url=http://www.cvce.eu/content/publication/2010/5/6/0c68431f-c487-490c-a66b-6e422e6aad80/publishable_en.pdf |access-date=24 November 2013 |page=2}}

• Elcano Royal Institute for International and Strategic Studies, Member of the Board of Trustees[http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/rielcano_en/about-elcano/board-of-trustees Board of Trustees] Elcano Royal Institute for International and Strategic Studies.
• Spanish Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences (RACMP), Member
• Spanish Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation (RAJL), Member

On 8 April 2010 Oreja was made Marquess of Oreja.{{cite journal |url=http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2010/04/09/pdfs/BOE-A-2010-5683.pdf |title=Real Decreto 430/2010, de 8 de abril, por el que se concede el título de Marqués de Oreja a don Marcelino Oreja Aguirre. |language=es |journal=Boletín Oficial del Estado |date=9 April 2010 |access-date=23 January 2015 |first=Juan Carlos |last=R. |author-link=Juan Carlos R. |editor-first=Francisco |editor-last=Caamaño Domínguez |editor-link=Francisco Caamaño Domínguez |issue=86 |page=32247 |issn=0212-033X}}

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{{s-ttl|title=Minister of Foreign Affairs|years=7 July 1976{{spaced ndash}}8 September 1980}}

{{S-aft|after=José Pedro Pérez-Llorca}}

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{{s-bef|before=Abel Matutes}}

{{s-ttl|title=Spanish European Commissioner|years=1994–1999|alongside=Manuel Marín}}

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{{S-ttl|title=Marquess of Oreja|years=2010–}}

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{{European Commissioner for Transport}}{{European Commissioners from Spain}}{{Authority control}}

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Category:1935 births

Category:Living people

Category:Politicians from Madrid

Category:People's Party (Spain) politicians

Category:Foreign ministers of Spain

Category:Council of Europe Secretaries-General

Category:MEPs for Spain 1989–1994

Category:Spanish European commissioners

Category:Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts

Category:Marquesses of Spain

Category:Spanish people of Basque descent

Category:Members of the 1st Congress of Deputies (Spain)

Category:Members of the 2nd Congress of Deputies (Spain)

Category:Members of the 5th Congress of Deputies (Spain)

Category:Members of the Senate of Spain